86.
I don’t believe in the reclamation of innocence through the cooling of sheets
Come
Let’s set these sheets on fire
Let’s burn them all night long
I don’t believe in the saving grace of dryers
So let’s set these sheets on fire
After we can descend into hell
& take heaven with us
87.
Almost quarter to heartbreak
& I’m picking up pieces of you off the living room floor
I’m replacing your bits neatly into the cupboards
Remember Achtung, Baby?
You shook your head & I laughed
& laughed and laughed
You carried me home, drunk
Remember?
Now twenty three minutes to merriment & it’s achtung
Stop
You & I are marionettes
You & I are marionettes
Stop
It’s now ever after
This, too, is ever after
& only ever so
88.
The signpost just north of August reads:
All skinned passengers keep right
My skinned peeled off on Thursday
In a fit of rage, demanding the right
the need for
Touch who left Wednesday morning
Mine left slamming the door behind her
& the sign reads:
unskinned licensed drivers may keep right
& since I don’t drive
I keep left
Keep being left
Stay left
89.
Jasmine,
What shall I tell my feet?
With what words can I convince my neck to stay
How can I say that we will be okay?
The three of us?
The four of us, since the varicose veins refuse to leave?
90.
Let’s not sit with young lovers
What with their hands locked, intertwining fingers
She asleep
Lipsticked mouth hanging open
Her head on his chest
He with his heavy eyelids sleep or love,I don’t know
His other hand on her thigh
His hair fallen over the side of his face
& all of us on the bus ready to protect young love
whatever it takes
Let’s not sit with sleeping lovers
We’re sentry, we’re sentry, we’re sentry
We cannot sit with these lovers
Vulnerable , weak, stupid
Falling asleep on the bus
What with interlinked fingers and pinked lips
Her mouth agape, his hair falling across his face
So beautiful, so lovely, so shimmery
I can’t stand it
So let’s not sit with the young lovers
It won’t do
Juliane Okot Bitek 